Business
Antigua & Barbuda moving to consolidate position on trade dispute with the U.S
Antigua & Barbuda on Wednesday said it had established a select committee to oversee the implementation process, as the twin-island nation seeks to suspend certain concessions and other obligations with the United States in their ongoing Internet gaming dispute.
The seven-member “World Trade Organization (WTO) Remedies Implementation Committee” (RIC), chaired by Attorney General Justin Simon, is responsible for directing the island-nation’s plan to build the framework necessary to suspend selected US intellectual property rights to the tune of US $21 million per year, effective from April, 2006.
Antigua & Barbuda has criticized the United States since 1998 of breaching its commitments to members of the WTO under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) by enacting laws that prevented foreign-based operators from offering gambling and betting services to its citizens.
In 2005, the WTO ruled that the US had violated international trade agreements by prohibiting operation of offshore Internet gambling sites.
(More: No progress in WTO dispute between Antigua & Barbuda and the U.S)
Antigua & Barbuda claimed that it lost US$3.4 billion a year due to the US action, however the WTO awarded the island-nation US$21 million.
In its final ruling, the Geneva-based WTO has allowed Antigua & Barbuda to suspend certain concessions and obligations it has under international law to the United States in respect of intellectual property rights.
